Feature

FIFA 19 demo: content overview & major impressions

09/14/2018

The FIFA 19 demo has officially released worldwide on each platform. This means that everyone is able to play the new game and get a feel for it. We can finally share our thoughts and confirm if the gameplay feels similar to how it looked in FIFA 19 Capture Event content. The demo features a range of different teams from each of Europe’s top leagues, as well as a teaser to The Journey. But the teaser is the same footage that we saw from Gamescom a couple of months ago, so there is nothing new there.

In this article, I will go over everything that you need to know in terms of the FIFA 19 demo, as well as share some of my own thoughts towards both the content and gameplay.

How do we get the FIFA 19 demo?

On Thursday, it proved extremely difficult for a lot of the players to access the FIFA 19 demo. The PlayStation store crashed at 3:00pm BST, so this meant that no one could access the demo through the store. They had to access the mobile app to then download it on to their consoles. Xbox was another story. As an Xbox player myself, I sat on the Store refreshing every couple of minutes to see if it was there. It eventually showed up two hours later; however, Xbox players also had to download the game from their mobile apps. It is unclear if the issue is still standing, but most players will have downloaded the demo by now.

Anyway, to get the FIFA 19 demo on PlayStation you need to do the following:

Access the PlayStation Store
Type in “FIFA 19 demo”
Install it

You should now be able to download the demo through the store, as they have fixed their bandwidth issues.

For Xbox players, you may have to take a different route:

Download the Xbox Mobile App on your mobile device
Log in with your Xbox account
Connect your mobile to the same internet connection as your Xbox
Pair your Xbox
Find the FIFA 19 demo in the Store
Click “Install”

Find FIFA 19 demo on your “Ready to Install” list on your Xbox One

This is a long and unnecessary route to downloading the demo, but it is the only way to currently do it on Xbox One.

Content

Once players have finally downloaded the demo, they will be free to play it. As you open the game, you are greeted with some of the new features that are included. You cannot skip this section. Players will also see this section after each game they play, which is quite annoying and needs to be removed. However, there are only two things to do in the demo, which was expected.

Kick-off

The Kick-off mode in FIFA 19 is the only way to play a normal game in the FIFA 19 demo. There are a number of teams to choose from, all of which are qualified for the Champions League. These teams are as follows:

Juventus
Real Madrid
Manchester United
Manchester City
Bayern Munich
Paris Saint Germain
Atletico Madrid
Borussia Dortmund
AS Roma
Tottenham Hotspur

This was confirmed after a previous leak within the community. As expected, each game is played in a Champions League setting. This is coming after a huge deal was struck between UEFA and FIFA. Along with this, you can take advantage of the new gameplay mechanics in this mode. Things such as timed finishing, first touches, and new skill moves can be practiced and mastered in this mode.

The Journey

As expected, we see an irrelevant teaser for The Journey, FIFA’s story mode. This teaser does not give away any storylines or spoilers to the final mode. Also, the teaser is very boring and quite disappointing. In the FIFA 17 demo, players could play as Alex Hunter in his first debut; this was far more exciting and fun to play. They seem to have done a bad job on it this year. Another thing that made this disappointing is the fact that we’ve already seen this exact sequence of events coming from content creators at Gamescom. They need to make some changes to give it a fresh feel.

Since the demo has released, content creators who attended the FIFA 19 Capture Event have released the first gameplay of The Journey from the final game. You can check out a video about that below. However, there are some spoilers in this video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ivb6oT2u7Hk

My Thoughts

Overall, the FIFA 19 demo was exactly what I expected it to be. There is a lot of repetition in the style of the demo from recent years. As some content creators have already expressed, the demo is an old build of FIFA. We saw the exact same gameplay as Gamescom, which suggests that they must have made improvements based on the feedback that they got from that event.

Menus

However, the menu system is clean and fluid. There seems to be an improvement in the graphic design department as the game looks good in all aspects. In addition to this, the tile system on the menu is easy to navigate for all types of players. Finally, the colors give the game a new sense of life. Especially in the game, you can tell that there is an obvious difference between FIFA 18 and FIFA 19. This is great to see for every FIFA player.

Gameplay

The gameplay is exactly how I first judged it from the FIFA 19 Capture Event videos. It is a lot slower than in the previous FIFA title, with some animations feeling even slower. This slow type of gameplay is very similar to Pro Evolution Soccer, which is FIFA’s main rival. However, the new touch system is fun, and it also adds some flair to everyone’s game.

The low-driven shot type is finally being pushed out of the game, which is great to see. This means that we will finally see more skillful shot types being utilized in the competitive scene. Finally, the new skill moves are average; they do not come close to the efficiency of the spin or the fake-shot. They are pretty much only there to make the “Skillers” happy. I feel like the pace of the game could be altered in the final build. We will also have to see how Ultimate Team and online play feels. It is a known fact that single player and online play can feel like two completely different games. We can still hold some hope for that!

What do you think of the FIFA 19 demo so far? We want to hear your thoughts! Also, feel free to check out the rest of our FIFA 19 coverage here.